The development of miniature balloon catheters for use in small tortuous locations such as neurological blood vessels is an extremely active and dynamic field. The development can be traced through the work of Dr. Serbineko of Russia as published in the Journal of Neurosurgery, Volume 41, August 1974, pages 125-145 and entitled Balloon Catherization and Occlusion of Major Cerebral Vessels. An example of more recent work in the area is present in U.S. Pat. No. 4,085,757 issued to Dr. Paul H. Pevsner on Apr. 25, 1978.
The rapid development of the art is readily apparent and the visible field of use becomes greater as experimental work continues within the medical profession. A variety of improved designs for miniature balloon catheters for detachment, perfusion and other purposes are being developed at rapid rate with improvements being conceived constantly. Naturally proceeding hand-in-hand with the improved devices is a sequence of improved techniques in the use of balloon catheters both for neurological purposes and for use in other body vessels and cavities.
Original developments is the use of detachable perfusion balloons were primarily directed toward the diagnosis and treatment of neurological diseases. In certain instances larger non-detachable balloons have been utilized for emergency preoperative control of hemmorrhage in the abdominal circulation, but most efforts have centered about therapeutic embolization with a variety of materials.
One particular area open for development is in the use of the detachable balloon occlusion as offering a method for precise and possibly long-term occlusion without the dangers of inadvertent embolization associated with the injection of particulate matter through a catheter. There is very little data available describing the possible variables influencing balloon occlusion.